This invention relates to an electronic program schedule system, which provides a user with schedule information for broadcast or cablecast programs viewed by the user on a television receiver. More particularly, it relates to an improved electronic program guide that provides the user with a more powerful and convenient operating environment, while, at the same time, increasing the efficiency of navigation by the user through the guide. Most particularly, it relates to an improved EPG having a scan feature. The EPG scan feature causes television programs and/or items of program schedule information to be displayed seriatim, each for a fixed time. The feature may be turned off at any point during the scan, whereupon, as described below, the user may either continue to view the then-displayed program or schedule information, or return to the program or schedule information displayed at the time the scan was initiated.
Electronic program guides for television systems are known in the art. For example, one prior system used an electronic character generator to display textual schedule information on the full screen of a television receiver. Other prior systems presented electronically stored program schedule information to a user for viewing while allowing the user to select display formats. Still other systems employed a data processor to input user-selection criteria, then stored only the program schedule information meeting these criteria, and subsequently used the stored information to automatically tune a programmable tuner or activate a recording device at the time of broadcast of the selected television programs. Such prior systems are generally discussed in. “Stay Tuned for Smart TV,” published in the November 1990 issue of Popular Science. 
Collectively, the prior electronic program systems may be difficult to implement and cumbersome to use. They also fail to provide viewing capabilities that address in a more realistic manner the viewing habits of the users of these electronic program systems. Moreover, many of these systems are complex, in their design and are expensive to implement. Ease of use and economy are primary concerns of television program distributors and viewers as they contemplate dramatic increases in the number and nature of program networks and other television-based services. And, as the number of television channels available to a user increases dramatically with the advent of new satellite and cable-based technologies, the utility of these prior systems substantially diminishes.
The prior electronic program guides also lack a method for creating a viewing itinerary electronically while still viewing a program currently appearing on the television receiver. Moreover, these prior program guides leave much guess work for the user as he navigates through a sequence of channels. When skimming through channels to ascertain the program then being displayed on any channel, commonly known as “channel surfing,” the user needs to guess which program is currently being aired from the video encountered as the user surfs through the channels. Since much—in some cases, up to 30%—of the programming appearing on any given channel at any given time is advertising or other commercial programming, the user is not provided with any clues as to what program is appearing on a selected channel at a given time and must therefore wait until the advertisement or commercial is over before ascertaining the program then appearing on the selected channel. Thus a need exists for a program guide which displays current program schedule information for each channel as the user surfs through the available channels.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a simplified electronic program schedule system that may be more easily implemented, and which is appealing and efficient in operation. There is also a need to provide the user with an electronic program schedule system that displays both broadcast programs and electronic schedule information in a manner not previously available with other electronic program schedule systems, particularly those using a remote controller.
The present invention is directed to the incorporation of a “scan” feature into an EPG. Such a scan feature is useful to automatically cycle through a plurality of programs currently being received on a plurality of channels, or a plurality of program schedule information in any of the various operating modes of an EPG as described below.
Certain scan features are known in the audio field, particularly in automobile radios to permit a user to sample the radio programs being received on a number of stations in a hands-free manner with the single touch of a button. Once a radio's scan feature has been enabled, the radio tunes to each receivable radio station on the tuning band, in order, beginning at the presently tuned station and stopping for a preset time at each station before moving to the next. When the driver or other listener wishes the radio to remain tuned to a particular one of the scanned stations, the scan function is deactivated and listening returns to normal.
In addition, some remote control devices for television, such as the Uniwand™ sold by Universal Electronics, include a “scan” key. When this key is pressed, the remote control device emits a stream of infrared signals at predetermined time intervals to cause the television tuner to sequentially tune to the next channel. However, because the signals are transmitted by the remote control device, the user must keep the device aimed at the infrared receiver throughout the scan process so that the infrared signals continue to be received by the television. This is awkward and cumbersome.
However, existing EPGs do not provide for user-controllable scanning of programs or program schedule information, which are desirable features in an EPG because the user need not manually scan, or “surf,” through programs or schedule information by continually depressing a channel or direction arrow key on a remote controller.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to incorporate a scan feature into an EPG.
It is a further object of the present invention to incorporate the scan feature into the various operating modes of the EPG.
A still further object of the present invention is to incorporate a scan feature into of an EPG such that a user can scan through actual television programs or program schedule information.
A still further object of the invention is to obviate the requirement for a user to keep the remote control device aimed at the television to perform a scan operation.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by an electronic program schedule system which includes a receiver for receiving broadcast, satellite or cablecast television programs for a plurality of television channels and a tuner for tuning a television receiver to a selected one of the plurality of channels. A data processor receives and stores in a memory television program schedule information for a plurality of television programs to appear on the plurality of television channels. A user control apparatus, such as a remote controller, is utilized by a viewer to choose user control commands and transmit signals in response to the data processor which receives the signals in response to user control commands. A television receiver is used to display the television programs and television program schedule and other information. A video display generator receives video control commands from the data processor and program schedule information from the memory and displays a portion of the program schedule information in either full screen mode or in overlaying relationship with a television program appearing on a television channel in at least one mode of operation of the television programming guide. The data processor controls the video display generator with video control commands, issued in response to the user control commands, to display program schedule information for any chosen one of the plurality of television programs in either full screen mode or in overlaying relationship with at least one television program then appearing on any chosen one of the plurality of channels on the television receiver.
In response to a single user control command, the data processor causes the tuner to scan channels and/or program schedule information seriatim. For example, in one mode of operation of the EPG of the present invention—referred to as FLIP mode and described more fully below—the data processor causes the tuner to increment (or decrement) by one the currently tuned channel, display the received program for the channel together with program schedule information identifying the program for a predetermined amount of time, and then increment (or decrement) by one the channel, display that channel and associated program schedule information for the predetermined amount of time, and so on, until a second user control command causes the tuner to stop scanning and remain on the currently tuned channel, or until the data processor otherwise causes the tuner to stop the scan. Similarly, in another mode of operation of the EPG of the present invention—referred to as BROWSE mode and described more fully below—the scan feature may be used to scan program schedule information (on either a channel or time basis) while the tuner remains tuned to the same channel.
In addition, the scan feature of the present invention may also be used in modes of an EPG that display full pages of program schedule information to permit a user to scan through the program schedule information with a single user control command.